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Fandom Castlevania: Night's Dirge [Closed]

Trevor was trying to work Lucia into as much of a corner as he could get out here in the forest. It was just like guides he remembered reading, use his whip to slowly cut down their movements. If he did it too quickly then they would be able to get away, but by slowly cutting off their attempts to get room you were not only breaking any rhythm they were getting go you were also inflicting mental damage. If they started to believe you were always one step ahead of them then they started to make mistakes.

So every crack of the whip brought it closer to Lucia and despite the haze that had taken over his blue eyes his focus and intent was clear.

With a sharp jerk of his wrist he brought the whip down on Lucia again, he expected her to move but she moved oddly. She was breaking the pattern he had been able to see in her movements and his whip hit her arm. He hadn't expected it to hit her arm, and the sensation of something other than ground or air coming in contact with his whip threw his grip off a bit. He had to shift his hold rapidly, and that was all the opening Lucia needed.

Trevor was faced with her Gladius flying towards his head and he had to block. He brought his whip down and watched as the end of it wrapped around the handle of the gladius and sent it flying the other direction. It impaled itself in a tree and Trevor looked at it with a smirk, without that sword she'd always been on the defensive and her options were cut in half. She'd have to resort to the same thing every vampire did in the end. No amount of culture changed the fact they were monsters who would lunge at you and attempt to rip you're throat out if you weren't prepared.

A quick glance ahead left him slightly wide eyed, he hadn't expected her to charge him from the front. She should be relaying on instinct now, predators preferred to attack from the back. He took a cautious step back and decided against his whip, it wouldn't work well up close, and reached for his short sword. But again he didn't expect what ever Lucia was planning. He was prepared to pull his sword from its sheath and imbed it in her heart if she really wanted his throat that badly, but her body was pressed against his and gave him no room to move his sword arm.

His hazy blue eyes locked with hers for a moment as they fell, but then he hit the ground with a loud grunt.

" Oh for Christs sake, I think I landed on a rock!" He grunted out as his eyes scrunched up in pain.

But he opened his eyes and his baby blues were as clear as they normally were, the hold was broken on him.

" Seriously Lucia, i'm on a big rock. Please get off me. It hurts."


Aveline gasped hearing Lucias cry of pain, she had a pretty good idea how she was feeling and her stomach throbbed in solidary , but her attention was diverted for long. She didn't want to use her spear near Danicas head, not when there were birds flying around this way and that.

Pulling two daggers from her belt she threw them and pinned two of the owls to the tree behind Danica, but the third was flying too close to her face to risk anything like that.

" Why can't you just be like real birds and fly away when people tell you Shoo!" Aveline growled out, annoyed by the birds and the fact they were the reason she got hit with a holy whip.

Aveline pulled out a third dagger and hurried to Danicas side, stabbing the bird in the side and using her dagger to get the bird off of Danica while minimizing how much damage it could do to her. By the time the last bird hit the ground dead her hands had a few bite marks and the claws of the owl had scratched 3 long marks down her forearm, but all the birds were dead and it looked like everyone was fine.

" Sound off, are we all alive?" Aveline called out playfully, but was so tired she just sat down on the ground right there by the bird she had just killed.

" Are you back to normal trevor?" She called over to him.

" yeah, think so." He panted out, tired from the fight with Lucia and side throbbing from the rock he fell on.

Aveline gave him the bird.

" Johann? Are you alive? That looked and sounded like a nasty hit to the head." Aveline called over to him, but she wasn't even sure if he was awake. Getting bucked off a horse could knock out any man.
 
It worked! Lucia knew it when he complained, but she didn’t have her own bearings together enough to move immediately, still reeling from the pain she was in. Of course, just keeping him pinned down to get those bearings wouldn’t help matters, especially not when he complained that ‘it hurt’. ‘I swear to god….’

The urge to punch him was definitely still there. Yet, he hadn’t been in control. It wasn’t right to punch him for that…just as she shouldn’t keep him in undo pain. It didn’t keep the glare out of her eyes as she shifted off of him, and got back to her feet, Marius coming over to her as the owls were finally cleared up. She immediately leaned into him, and threw her good arm around his neck.

“I’m breaking your whip next time.” Lucia just threatened, before turning Marius towards Johann, not getting up onto the horse but walking with it at her side. She wasn’t so sure she’d trust herself otherwise. White-hot pain still wanted to streak through her at random, the residual blessing of the whip apparently still trying to screw her over since it didn’t kill her in one shot.

No doubt a weaker vampire would have fallen, or a younger one.

She dropped to her knees at Johann’s side, though, touched his neck. She could still feel his pulse, and he was still breathing. Stirring, even. He was lucky that Marius had stayed at his side, and he let out a pained groan as his senses came back to him, and he blinked open his eyes. He saw Lucia. He saw Marius.

And then it all came flooding back to him and he sat up too fast. “Urk.” He keeled forward, bringing his knees to his chest, before looking around.

He saw Alucard, standing, crossbow bolt still in his shoulder. “Oh—I’m sorry, Alucard! I—I don’t know what—”

“The birds did it,” Lucia reassured, but glanced at Alucard, a threat written in the gaze that if he so much as said one bad thing to Johann she might tear his throat out. “Come on, get up, we have to keep moving. Danica?”

“I’m okay,” she said, still atop Sulla, despite her bleeding arms. “Thank you, Aveline,” it had been her who helped, “I got distracted. Stupid….” But how could she not? It was probably for the best. She would have peppered Trevor’s back with daggers.

Another shiver of pain moved through Lucia and she rose, pulled Marius close again to drape her arm over his neck. Johann managed to get up, but he put his hand to his head, briefly checked for blood. Thankfully, there was none, but he definitely had a serious headache and he didn’t quite feel steady on his feet.

Sypha’s look to all of them was sympathetic, as they all regrouped. She was able to take into account damages then, and that Trevor was literally the least wounded. Those hunter instincts counted for something, clearly. “Alucard, we should remove that bolt….”

Alucard glanced at it, “Are you certain?” He didn’t know if pulling it out would end up making blood start gushing out of him. He knew sometimes it was actually worse to remove bolts and arrows when immediate treatment wasn’t possible. It was why he hadn’t immediately torn it out. He may be a dhampir, and could heal quickly, but with things here…he didn’t want to unintentionally weaken himself more when he couldn’t get to immediate aide.

“I’m so sorry,” Johann said again, not able to look at Alucard now.
 
" That was just...horrible." Trevor groaned as he sat up and rubbed the spot where he had landed on the rock. " One minute i'm thinking and the next my thoughts weren't my own."

" Yes, it was like something was thinking for me. I felt like I was the one in control, but when Alucard snapped me out of it I realized that nothing I was thinking or feeling was true." Sypha frowned as she spoke. She didn't really think the others were horrible people who didn't care about her, she didn't blame them for taking her away from the speakers. Not when she chose to leave them and help defeat Dracula, but at that moment she had been so sure that the others were a threat and had to be taken care of.

" Yes, before I was possessed I was going to say, those were Strix's. From Greek folklore they're bad omens, owls with a taste for blood and flesh. Also a favorite pet of witches because strix's can manipulate a persons thoughts and make them do what ever they want." Trevor pushed himself up from the ground and wrapped his whip back up, thinking about Lucias threat to break it next time and then patting it slightly as if he was trying to comfort it. This whip was a family heirloom, he wasn't going to let anyone break it.

" I'd like to say sorry as well." Trevor said. Like Lucia said none of them had been in control when they were taken over but he still felt bad. " You owe me all your roasted vegetables for a week to make it up to me." Aveline called out as she stood up but rested a hand over her stomach. It had stopped bleeding but it was still radiating out pain, like if she put too much pressure on it.

" I am sorry too." Sypha said, frowning at her folded hand. " I know I didn't hurt anyone but I was going to! I really wanted to actually..." she trailed off and Trevor paled a bit at the thought of Sypha going all out against them. They were lucky she had been pulled out of the haze.

" Oh my gosh I didn't realize you still had a bolt in you." Aveline gasped, really looking at the bolt in Alucards shoulder after Sypha pointed it out. In the heat of the moment with everyone trying to not get their eyes plunked out of their head by the owls she hadn't noticed the bolt still sticking out of Alucards shoulder.

" I still have left over bandages from Aveline, we can pull the bolt out of your shoulder and wrap up everyone elses wounds as best we can. Though hopefully we don't run into any more trouble." Sypha pulled the left over bandages from her robes and handed them out to anyone that needed them. Danica really needed to wrap up her bleeding arms, Alucards shoulder needed to be binded, and Lucias already wounded arm most likely needed more bandages after taking a bit from the whip.


Just looking at the even worse wound on Lucias arm made Trevor frown. He did that. He hadn't been in his right mind, but he had still caused it and it felt like he needed to do something about it. So he took the bandages Sypha offered and walked over to Lucia, gesturing with the bandages that he'd wrap her arm up.

" It's not much but I owe you this much at least." He said, and luckily for her he had binded more than his far share of wounds and was able to do it well. " I truly am sorry. I don't know why you let me do that. You took it easy on me when I had no intensions of taking it easy on you." he frowned as he spoke, clearly upset with himself.


Aveline had fluttered nervously around Alucard as Sypha prepared to pull the bolt from his shoulder, but she could tell she was in Syphas way. Sypha knew that the bolt hadn't hit anything too serious, no arties that would squirt out, so she just needed room to pull the bolt out smoothly and then wrap everything up. To stay out of the way and cause Alucard as little pain as possible she found herself over by Johann, who was still not looking anyone in the eye after what happened.

She could feel the shame coming off of him in waves, and he looked content to stagger and sway by himself in self imposed misery because of what happened.

" Don't blame yourself, Johann." She said, coming up to his side and offering him some help getting to a tree to steady himself while everyone tended to their wounds. " None of us figured out until about half way through the fight what the Strix could do, and you weren't the only one to get caught by their stare." she assured him with a sweet smile.

" Though if you still feel really guilty I think that knock on the head makes things even." She took the chance to press her hand against his forehead, making sure he wasn't sweaty with nausea or anything." I'm worry about that fall though. Are you feeling sick? Or really confused?"
 
Though Alucard did not like the idea, as the attention focused in on him and the bolt, he accepted it. If Sypha still had bandages, pressure could be applied quickly to keep him from bleeding out. Not that he was truly at much risk of bleeding out, but he didn’t need to be weakened further. “Very well…while we seem to have caught a break,” his eyes drifted briefly down to one of the birds, curiosity shining again.

Would it be so bad to take a feather or two from the ‘strix’?

Probably.

He still wanted to.

Both Sypha and Aveline came closer, Aveline all nerves, while Sypha wrapped both hands around the bolt. She seemed to give Aveline a look, and she fluttered off. Alucard’s gaze followed her over to Johann. The other man didn’t seem too well, though at least he wasn’t bleeding out.

He felt a momentary pang of jealousy, placed easily from the childish emotion he’d felt when his parents stole time together, without him, when Aveline helped to move Johann to a tree. ‘Why?’ The reason for it, he couldn’t quite place so well. They were a unit, helping each other. ‘Though he isn’t part of the prophecy.’ Perhaps it was just the memory of her touch when she’d gotten onto his back, and the thought of someone else now against her – albeit in the vulnerable position.

“Ready?”

“Uh?”

Too late – Sypha yanked the bolt out and Alucard had to hiss back the sudden pain and keep his back tense to remain upright. “Sorry – I guess I should have counted down….”

Alucard just shook his head. His fault. He let himself be distracted.

With the bolt out, he was able to adjust his coat off that shoulder, and Sypha pushed the rest of the fabric of his shirt aside to get better access to clean the wound up and wrap it. “Danica, I can help you next!” Sypha noted, and Danica nodded, not worried. “Then you, Aveline!”



When Trevor approached, Lucia did side-eye him. While she knew it wasn’t him that attacked her, there certainly remained some wariness. The visual didn’t exactly leave her mind, nor did the remnants of that blessing. The bandages weren’t about to get rid of that. Her gaze drifted to Danica, and she recognized that as Danica was also in need of bandaging, it wasn’t right to ask her to do it instead.

She’d have to buck up again. Be the adult and not petty over this matter. So, wordlessly, she tucked at the leather and just pulled the sleeve off. There wasn’t much but threads holding it on over her arm, anyways, but she didn’t throw it aside. She folded it over and stuck it between her waist and her sword’s belt. It could be repaired, the scraps used in fixing it up to a full sleeve once again.

“Your point?” She couldn’t help but ask as he finished his little speech about how she should not have gone easy on him. “Someone had to take the risk to snap you out of it, and I think we both know the only other one in this party who stands a chance is Alucard – and he would not have held back.” Which was the problem, and why she needed to step up and do it.

It was just what was necessary, to make sure Trevor did not get hurt more than necessary. Still, a sly smirk came to her lips as she added, “Besides, if you kill me, I’m just going to haunt you. You may want to reconsider killing me – I will be a greater pain as a ghost than I ever will be as a vampire.”



Johann lifted his gaze as Aveline came to him. He could vividly remember shooting a bolt at her, too, but it seemed it had missed. Thankfully. Perhaps Marius bucking him off had disrupted the aim of it in time. “Thank you,” he murmured as he took her help towards a tree, where he leaned against it.

It was fairly obvious he hadn’t been the only one to lose control. From what he was hearing, apparently Sypha and Trevor had also lost their senses. Thankfully, those were regained, though Trevor had still done some damage, much as he had done.

She was encouraging, and he returned the smile, appreciating her attempt to make him see that he shouldn’t be so ashamed – but he was. He knew he should have done better. He was a hunter! He protected Lucia! He’d messed up. Of course, so did Trevor…who knew what these things were.

He stiffened a moment as he felt her hand against his forehead. It felt cold right then. His own was a bit warm, verging on feverish, but it was more the strain and the pain affecting him, not an infection or illness. “No…well, a bit nauseous, but I think I’m okay,” he was holding it together, “Just not balanced,” as was obvious by the way he was leaning against the tree. He was definitely not feeling as if things were holding still, though his vision didn’t seem impaired at all. Just his sense of balance. Perhaps his ears, though. There was still a pounding in his head that he wasn’t sure he should be hearing, like blood rushing faster than normal.

His eyes dropped down briefly, "But are you? You got hit pretty bad...." he didn't know by what, but assumed Trevor for the vegetables comment.
 
Aveline gently bit on her lower lip as she searched Johanns face for any signs that he was worse off than he was saying, but he didn't seem to be holding too much back. Physically he would probably be fine, but he still looked upset with himself and there wasn't much she could do about that.

" Hits on the head like you took can be dangerous, I mean it knocked you out! Make sure to let one of us know if you start to feel worse." As long as he wasn't throwing up, ringing in his ears, or slurred speech then he would come out of the whole ordeal not too bad off. " But I bet being sleepy isn't helping either. But we're almost back home, I think. I saw something some kind of arch way, it's probably the portal out of here." She pulled her hand back from his face and gave him a smile. In times like this when almost all of them were hurt and all of them were tried it was best to keep spirits up and show everyone the light at the end of the tunnel.

" Oh yeah, Trevor got me with his whip pretty good." She admitted sheepishly when Johann brought up her own wounds. " I've never been hit with a whip before, I didn't realize that it would slice through skin like it did, but i'm fine. This isn't my first time getting knocked around." she assured him. " Though don't tell Trevor I've got it easy or I want get his vegetables." she giggled mischievously.

but despite what she said she was still curled in a bit, not wanting to stretch herself to her full height because it would pull at both her back and stomach wounds. But man was she done being here, she just wanted to return back to camp and really treat her wounds, then sleep in the carriage. But Johann looked like the embodiment of tired and she was sure everyone else was already worn thin. Being brought into this enchanted forest had come at a horrible time, so she was willing to force herself to stay up and help out tomorrow when the sun came up.

" Come on lean against me, I can help you get back on Marius or if you don't think you can stay on you can use me as a crutch. Either way lets get back over with everyone else and get out of here."


" That's my issue. Alucard wouldn't of taken it easy on me, I can almost guarantee that i'd be the one needing bandaging up right now if he fought me." He pulled on the bandages, making sure they were tight, but he frowned knowing that these bandages wouldn't do anything but stop the blood. A hit from his whip would hurt someone like her a lot, it would feel like real hell. It was a sting that wouldn't go away for a while because his whip embedded itself in her just a bit, she'd probably feel better if she rinsed her arm out with water or something that would taint the area.

" I'm someone that can afford to get hurt. I'm human I heal, maybe not as fast as you or Alucard will, but I also don't need blood to do it. I know I don't need to remind you of our agreement." He didn't want to come off as pushy or treat her like she was stupid, she knew what he meant. As long as she was drinking any blood that wasn't human, she wasn't getting the full nutrients she needed. She would get weaker with every day that went by and every wound she got. Taking that hit from him to keep him having to hurt him was going to hurt her in the long run. Though how badly It was going to hurt her he didn't know, and that's part of the reason he was upset.

" Next time think of yourself a bit. I'm a tool for killing things, when we finally take this fight to Dracula it will be you and Alucard doing most of the hard work. I'll be there looking pretty and keep shit from getting in your way."

He pulled his hands away from the bandages, content with how they had come out, but chuckled hearing Lucias threat to haunt him.

" I'm getting used to you being a pain in the ass, so that's not much of a threat. Plus a ghost can't knock my tankard out of my hand, so if you want me to stay on the straight and narrow you better not die."
 
Johann knew that head wounds could be severe. He probably shouldn’t go right to sleep, but he would. He knew that as soon as they got to the safety of the carriage, he would. He spared a glance towards Lucia, imagining she would do the same. He knew vampires slept to heal – he didn’t know how, or why, but it worked.

He also knew that blood helped. Any other day he or Danica would have offered, but they were both aware of the deal she had with the hunter.

The hunter responsible for her state. ‘No, the Strix are.’ He had to recall his own thoughts then, the way they’d seemed…wrong, but his. The doubts of Lucia truly being good, the thoughts of the Belmonts actually causing evil, and anyone supporting the son of Dracula needed to perish with him…horrible thoughts.

“To be fair…Belmont whips are a bit more than the average whip, too.” Plenty of whips wouldn’t have torn her up like that. Some would have just left red marks or welts, not blood. Hunters knew how to use them a bit better than the average joe – but the Belmont whips were still something else. Especially to a vampire or other creature of darkness.

Good thing Aveline was just human. “But I’ll keep the secret,” he agreed, before adding, “Are you…really sure you can hold me up?” he glanced to Marius, doubting very much he could ride the horse right then, even if Lucia was able to help.

Which, he wasn’t counting on.

“I don’t – I mean I know you’re capable but….” Well, the size difference was obvious, as he made clear with the way he looked her over. Not suggestive, simply comparative.

Of course, with that glance over, Sypha had come to join them, “Aveline, your turn!” She said, putting a hand on her shoulder to turn her around so she could get a better look at the newest wound from the whip and try to fix it up while bandages remained, now that Alucard was fixed up, and she’d wrapped a bit of Danica’s arms up. Hers had mostly just been talon scratches, a few deep enough to warrant wrapping. “Are you feeling any better, Johann?” Sypha asked.

“I’m well enough…I just want to get back but I don’t think I’m alone there,” he chuckled, a bit nervously.

“No…with any luck we won’t run into anything else on the way to the archway we saw,” Alucard agreed, before adding, “and it works.” They didn’t actually know if it would.



Lucia managed not to laugh at Trevor’s declaration that he could afford to get hit. Humans were…fragile. To her. She could be impaled through the abdomen by a greatsword and walk it off. Her throat could be slit, and she’d survive. Her weaknesses were horrible, but compared to humanity, they seemed laughable.

So what if she couldn’t stand in the sun?

If a human was staked through the heart, they’d die, just as well. Same with beheading.

“I have no intention of dying, Trevor – though if I did I assure you I would find some way to knock a tankard from your hand,” Lucia said, the play remaining for that, but fading with the rest of her words, “nor do I have any intention of allowing you to die. In order to look pretty during our fight with Dracula, you do have to make it to him. We’re also not going to have a pissing contest about who can get hurt – I do heal faster, even with animal blood, and we both know a vampire is more endurable than a human – not to mention women are in general.” Oh but that was a quote she didn’t much care for, and it only brought a rueful smile to her lips.

Women were made to endure. So said the Romans. So said her Sire. After all, childbirth was pain, a test of endurance, the way most women died and their only value to men back then.

“I’m too old to change my ways. I have lived the majority of my life in service to others, so I won’t be stopping that now. If you intend to see that I do not get injured on your behalf…,” a casual shrug, as she brushed one hand down the bandaged arm to make sure it seemed good and tight, as well, “make sure to protect yourself better.” And, of course, don’t get possessed. That went without saying, but she knew he was referring to the future where it was more likely they’d be facing demons and creatures that didn’t possess, where either of them could still get terribly injured in a melee.
 
Trevor glared ruefully at Lucia, clearly they had contrasting ideas here. Or really they were just so similar in their desire to take the pain and burden from other people now that they met someone who was equally willing to take every cut and hit for another person he wasn't sure how to get through this. She was right though, there was no purpose to get into a pissing match over it, he would just have to step up his game. If he was faster on his feet or quicker to the punch then that was one less thing Lucia could get herself hurt on.

" Hey between the two of us i'm the less hurt, i'm a little bruised around the edges but i'd say I did a decent job protecting myself." He said and motioned towards his body. He hadn't been hurt by the demons, the Basilisk, and now not even her. Of course he knew she wasn't going for killing blows but he hadn't given her any breathing room during that fight either. For a moment he wondered what the result of a fight between them would really be, if they seriously came to blows, but he pushed those thoughts away.

Before everyone shared this night and experience of trying not to die he would of had no problems pursuing that train of thought, but now he felt a bit of kinship and in the least he was fond of Lucia. He didn't want things to come to that, and hopefully after they killed Dracula they wouldn't have to. He had no intensions of killed Lucia or Alucard after this was all said and done, he'd probably just go back to wandering the country on his own but this time with purpose. After all even with Dracula dead there would still be creatures out there that needed killing.

" Come on lets get you out of here and into your carriage. It's fine...Probably." He scratched at his cheek, not totally sure how the carriage was holding up, but hey better to be optimistic. It gave them something to work towards.


" Are you doubting Syphas skills, because once she patches me up i'll be right as rain." Aveline said, letting out a fake scandalized gasp. Of course Sypha was only wrapping up the wounds with bandages, there was no healing salve or magic involved, but hey keeping the blood inside the body where it was meant to be was pretty helpful.

" I'm stronger than I look, and compared to the rest of us i'd say i got off pretty good. Just some surface level cuts, i'll support you just fine." Aveline promised him, before giving into Sypha and letting her wrap up her wounds as best she could. Aveline was still determined to be useful of course, but the longer she was with everyone the more she cared about them. She didn't want to see Johann stagger and struggle to walk himself, especially not when there was something she could do about it. Though she was also a sucker for blonds, but she'd keep that to herself.

Johann tested out leaning against her again, but when he found her sturdy and able to walk just fine despite him leaning against her he allowed her to pull him away from the tree and take them over to Lucia and Trevor. Sypha had hurried off to wrap Danicas arms and Alucard looked to be doing fine despite the bolt that had been pulled out of him.

" You're looking pretty good after everything is said and done." Aveline said, a clear look of relief on her face as she looked at Alucard who was now bolt free. She knew vampires healed quickly but Alucard was still half human, so she had been worried that he'd look a bit pale or look uncertain on his feet, but as far as she could tell he was fine.


With the group as patched up as it could be the continued on their way again, sticking close and all keeping their eyes and ears peeled as they traveled. Shifts in the brush or the screech of birds caused them to stop a few times and wait to see if anything would happen, but nothing did. They were actually making progress without anything trying to kill them.

" Oh I see that arch I was talking about. Or at least I can see the top of it poking out over the tops of the trees." Aveline said in awe. How large was the archway if it was standing taller than the trees that dwarfed them all around?

" Just gotta cross this big open field." Trevor said, frowning as he looked at the field. From a tactical stand point it was a horrible idea, there was no cover so if they were attacked there was nothing to do but dodge. From a normal stand point of someone not versed in combat it would look like a beautiful clearing, however, with some pretty large rocks covered in moss. It was very peaceful and very unlike the forest they had gotten to know so far.

" before we take any more steps I want to say now I'm against crossing this field." Trevor said. His gut was telling him something was wrong, but the arch was near and Sypha had assured them that she felt something. Though what that meant Trevor didn't know, magic wasn't really his field.
 
It was, indeed, rare to meet another so willing to step up, but it hadn’t come as unexpected. Rather, it was precisely what Lucia expected from someone bearing the name ‘Belmont’. It did allow a smile to curve on her lips as he noticed he was the least injured, “Precisely.” She wasn’t going to discourage him, either. They were all going to have to give this journey their all.

Especially now as she realized holding back was only good against Trevor. Holding back against demons, or other creatures? Not so good. If she got injured, or the others did, it was just as bad as if she’d not held back and needed to drink more. She’d just have to be prepared to take more hunting trips. Eat like a human, in the sense of eating more than once a day or so.

It was a pity animals tended to panic. She couldn’t exactly ask consent, and their panicking meant she had to kill them to get a drink.

The others started to move towards them, and Lucia straightened up a bit, but Marius came right back to her side and nudged her arm. She sighed, but lifted it up and draped her good one over his neck again. Johann was leaning against the smallest in the party, which only amused Lucia, but she refrained from making a comment. He needed the help, and she couldn’t provide it.

As Sypha finished wrapping up Danica, they took off again, Danica still able to stay on Sulla, but Lucia didn’t even try, just walked alongside Marius.



Alucard answered the query thrown his way, as he walked on the other side of Aveline. “Yes, well…I have had a bit worse,” the wound that still hadn’t healed, for one. This wouldn’t wasn’t going to send him into any year long sleep or anything. He would recover from it, though he might have to join Lucia on a hunt. He suspected that even if she might have normally considered drinking from the others, it was not a good idea to do so with so many injured.

Nor good for party morale.

Johann didn’t look well, but Alucard couldn’t help that childish jealousy all the same. He knew it was ridiculous, just as he now knew it had been when his parents wanted time without him, but it lingered, and finally, he said – partly because Johann looked a bit ridiculous leaning over Aveline as well, “Johann, let me help you,” he paused to offer his hand to Johann.

Johann hesitated a moment, knowing Alucard had taken a bolt from him. “I-I’m doing all right.”

“You look ridiculous leaning over her.”

Johann’s cheeks heated with some indignation, but he supposed he still had his doubts about her ability to hold him up…and Alucard was larger. And seemed fine. So he shifted, and took Alucard’s hand.

He leaned into the other man, the two figuring it out after a few steps, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit more rushed to keep up with Alucard’s much longer strides.



Eventually, they reached the clearing, with the arch.

Lucia couldn’t say she was a fan, either.

“What, Belmont, afraid of the flowers?” Alucard teased. “Are you allergic?” Nothing obvious could be seen, but despite his teasing, even Alucard knew to be wary.

Lucia shifted then, glanced at Marius, then sighed as she determined she could make a short ride across the field. At a gallop. Screw the open field. “I’ll see you all across.” Lucia said, figuring it’d be best to cross it first, make sure it was safe. Not that galloping across on a nightmare was a real determination of safety, but anything there was sure to notice, and not be able to catch her – but it might make itself known to the others, so they could figure something out before it noticed them.

“Lucia you can’t be—” Danica started, but Lucia had already urged Marius right into a gallop. “Hells!” Danica urged Sulla right after her, and while Alucard considered following, he decided no, he would wait and see if they made it easily or not.

He and Trevor should stay behind to make sure the others would make it across at a sane pace.
 
" I see i'm not good enough for you, Johann." Aveline joked as he took up Alucard offer to leaned against him instead.

"W-What? No! It's just Alucard is-"

" Taller I get it. I was just teasing you."

Aveline laughed a bit at the sputter Johann let out, but after a moment he just shut his mouth and walked along with alucard. He was too tired for this. But even with him tired and most of the group suffering from a wound in one way or another Aveline tried to keep up their spirits, there was nothing like a good joke when everyone was feeling tired and kind of horrible.


Arriving at the field Trevor rested his hands on his hips and frowned. They could always just try to go around the field, but seeing as they couldn't see where the field started and where it stopped that would waste time they didn't have, and with this being an enchanted forest it was possible that magic was involved. This field could be never ending, and knowing their luck Trevor wasn't willing to take the gamble.

" Afraid of flowers? No. Wary of getting attacked by what ever crazy thing is waiting for us next? Yes." Trevor quipped back at Alucard.

But before the group could figure out what to do next, which honestly would just end up with them all crossing together, Lucia went ahead into the field of Marius and Danica was quick to follow her.

" At least Danica thought that was kind of stupid." Trevor signed, but he was alert.

His eyes scanned the field for any signs that something was going to happen. But by the time Lucia had made it halfway through the field nothing had shaken emerged from the forest around them, so as far as he was concerned it was worth the risk.

" Straight across is the quickest option, I saw we go for it." Trevor said, then stepped out into the field as well.

" The magic surrounding the arch has been fading for a bit, we probably don't have a lot of time. We have to risk the field." Sypha said, determination alit in her eyes as she also stepped out after Trevor.

Aveline locked eyes with Alucard and Shrugged a bit, before she Alucard and Johann joined the others. She walked slightly ahead of Alucard and Johann, like if something came for the two she would be able to fend off any attacks from the front.

But around halfway into the field as the Nightmares started to pass the large rocks Trevor had noticed said rocks started to shake. They tembled and shook the earth like an earthquake and it stopped them all, trying to continue onwards would knock them over but even standing still made it hard to stay upright.

Slowly the large rock formation began to change shape, dirt and moss fell free from the rocks as they took a more human form. Or to be precise they took a more troll like form.

" That's a goddamned Stone Troll." Trevor hissed.

Stone trolls were hard to kill only because they basically living stone. They were slow but packed a real punch if they were able to land a hit on you. They were also known for sleeping for years at a time and only waking up because they were hungry and looking for something to throw into a large pot for dinner.

Aveline whined thinking of yet another battle, just looking at the size of the stoney hands on the troll told her that getting hit by those once would probably leave her down and out for the rest of the fight if not forever.

" Any ideas, Trevor?" Sypha asked softly, eyes wide as they watched the Troll wake up and begin to get to its feet.

" Yeah, run!" Trevor scoffed as he grabbed Syphas arm and pulled her through the field with him.

" Stone trolls are slow as shit, as long as god doesn't throw anything else at us we should be able to out run it no problem." At least they better hope they could outrun it, because with the state they were in he didn't think they had a long fight against a stone giant in them.
 
Marius and Sulla had to stop as well or they risked losing their riders as the ground began to tremble. The stone no longer seemed like stone, but a troll waking. Even Lucia could understand the difficulty as it roused itself. It’s skin would be near impossible to break through. Except the eyes, of course – as Danica was already preparing to grab a dagger. Lucia even considered hurling her gladius she’d remembered to gather.

It worked against Trevor. In a way.

She heard Trevor shouting to the others to run, though. “I think he has the right idea of it, let’s cover the others to make sure they get by first, then we’ll catch up.” Lucia said, Marius starting to backtrack as the stone troll got to its feet.

Danica whined a bit herself, but nodded, resolute.



Alucard was certainly in agreement with Trevor’s sentiment here, and before Johann could so much as protest it, he picked him up, “I am sorry, we don’t have time,” slow or not, he didn’t want to risk any of them getting hit, and he knew he was a lot faster than any of the humans. He wasn’t sure about Aveline, but already he was reaching to grab her and do much the same as Trevor pulled Sypha along.

He wouldn’t press it if she shook off, given the issue of time, there was no point in arguing. Alastair would sprint ahead regardless, knowing he’d be able to pass Trevor and Sypha. He wouldn’t hinder his speed.

He at least needed to get Johann across before he could consider going back to cover anyone or stay at their pace.

“This is really not comfy,” he heard Johann complain.



Thankfully, the troll didn’t seem to immediately notice them. The two fiery horses, and their two riders, were a bright spot that were irritating him first, and he tried to grab one of them that lingered close, but it darted away, leaving him to just slam his palm into the ground. A guttural roar escaped him, and he started to move after that one, reaching up for a club that had once been another rock formation besides him.

He might not have speed but the club was going to give him range.

Of course, the other horse darted in his path, winding around his legs to try and trip him.

An attempt to slam his foot down didn’t quite work, though it did cause the horse to stumble in its fleeing, and the troll turned around.

Then it noticed the others, not on horseback.
 
" Running seems a like a good idea. A very good idea." Aveline said, her hand already half way to her spear for a moment before she dropped her hand.

She had been trying to figure out how they would even fight that thing if it came down to it. It was so tall, at least 18 ft tall and looked to be made totally of stone. It already reminded her of the basilisk with it's hard outer skin that had been hard enough for them to kill. They had only the mouth and eyes to aim their attacks at, and the Trolls eyes and mouth were so much smaller, not that she doubted Danicas aim but the Basilisks eyes and mouth had been much more pronounced. Someone would probably have to climb the troll if they wanted to really do any damage.

She turned to run, her legs protesting because since they had run from camp her stamina had been low but they were in the home stretch. She refused to fumble things up here.

But she didn't get more than few steps behind a hand grabbed her and hoisted her up. "W-What?!" She stuttered, wondering if something had appeared from the woods to grab her but she realized she had been hoisted over Alucards shoulder. He must of assumed she was tired and that her short legs would leave her at the back of the pack and within the reach of the troll, and his long legs were certainly covering more ground then she would of been able to. It was sweet in a way, though warning would of been nice.

She looked to her side and saw Johann hanging over Alucards shoulder like she was and they shared a slightly confused and exasperated expression.

" Do you feel like a sack of potatoes too?"

" Yeah, an uncomfortable sack of potatoes."

If they weren't running for their lives then Aveline would of laughed.


Trevor turned his head to watch as Lucia and Danica sped past him and the others to distract the troll. They needed time to cover the large distance to the edge of the field and he was thankful that they were buying them time, but he made sure to look back at how they were doing as often as possible. He pushed Sypha forward, he didn't need to drag her along she was more than capable and when she pulled up the bottom of her robes she could make some really good time. Slowing down he nodded at Alucard as he passed him as well, someone needed to signal to Lucia and Danica when they needed to make a break for it, it might as well be him.

" Oh we really can't catch a break can we?" He groaned as the troll decided to ignore the horses trying to trip him up and instead made slow but thunderous steps in the direction of him and everyone else not on horse back.

" Double time it to the trees!" he called back to the others.

It was clear the troll was ignoring the horses now, he was letting them dance around his feet but paid no attention to them now that he knew he couldn't catch them. So it was best to get the trolls attention on one specific thing, or in this one specific person.

" I'll draw it's attention, but I would really love it if someone came to get me once everyone else was clear!" He yelled as he broke from the others and drew the trolls attention to him off to the side. He ignored the cries of Sypha and Aveline and used his short sword to catch the light, the reflection easily caught the attention of the troll and it turned it's attention solely to him.

" That's right you big bastard, come get me. " he grumbled to himself
 
Alucard heard Trevor’s shout and glanced back, not having witnessed what had occurred with the troll and how it was now ignoring the horses. He had kept his focus on the tree line. Now, however, he glanced back and saw that the troll was purposefully getting closer to them. He grit his teeth together as he saw Trevor leave the pack to shine his sword at the troll.

How he managed to catch enough light at night was a miracle, but Alucard was willing to appreciate one miracle right then.

The dhampir was able to make it across, and he had to force himself not to go rushing to grab Sypha. He did, at least, let Johann and Aveline down, “Try not to root yourselves, potatoes,” he allowed for a joke, even if there was some tension that remained.

Johann groaned at the command, “That’s all I want to do,” he wasn’t about to stop complaining about how much he just wanted to lay down. Alucard didn’t offer another comment to it, poised as Sypha came into the trees, and not long after her, Danica.

“Lucia will get Trevor,” Danica promised, though even she seemed just as poised as Alucard to rush back out there. She still managed a smile to the others, “Everyone okay?”

“Noooo,” Johann said, but it was more of a jesting groan. Danica rolled her eyes, understanding that.


Beyond the trees, Lucia had determined she hated the troll for proving more intelligent than a troll had any right to be. Trevor came up with a plan, and drew its attention, so Lucia pulled off from trying to trip it up, much as Danica did, once the glint of light caught their eyes.

“Go back to the trees,” Lucia said, gesturing to where the others were starting to gather. “I’ll get Trevor when they’re safe,” and rush to the trees as soon as she had him. Until then, she’d stay back a bit and wait for the moment…and hope Trevor could dodge the troll until then.

If she went to get him too soon, she’d ruin the entire plan he had formed, after all. The troll didn’t care about the horses anymore, after all.

So it was with some agony that she watched the troll close in on Trevor, and eventually, heft its giant club up and attempt to smash Trevor with it. If the troll was out for food, it clearly didn’t care if it was eating the food with dirt and grass in it. Or if its food was more a puree than solid chunks.

Either way, she did notice with a hurried glance that the others all seemed gathered at the tree line now. So, she made Marius sprint towards the direction of Trevor, prepared to veer off when she figured out how he moved to evade the club, but not wanting to believe he wouldn’t.

He would avoid it. They would make it to the tree line. And it would still be night back in the real world.
 
The trolls small beady eyes were intense on Trevor, and for a moment he wondered how something so tall could see something so small like him even with the moonlight reflecting on his sword. But he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth because as he spared a glance off to the side he could see the others make it into the treeline. He thanked Alucard, in his mind, for picking up Aveline and Johann because that had made things go so much quicker. Sypha had also appeared to make it, and with the only horse on the field he could see being Marius he knew that only Lucia was still out here.

Everyone else was safe, now he just had to do the same for himself.

Looking up Trevor cursed under his breath as he saw the troll start to raise his club, he wouldn't be able to run out of the way, he needed something!

With a sudden spark of inspiration Trevor pulled his whip from his hip and wrapped it around one of the Trolls feet for support, then as the club was coming down he used the reflection from his sword into those dead beady eyes. The troll grunted and looked away, his aim thrown off and missing Trevor wih his club by a few feet.

The force of the club hitting the ground was like a huge shock wave, and gave Trevor a good amount of movement to capitalize on. He used his whip like a tether, and when the force from the club hitting the ground sent him flying his whip spun him in a circle that left him standing behind the troll and totally out of his sight.

" Thank god that worked." he grumbled as he coiled his whip back up at his side and caught Lucias attention.

The troll was still not paying attention to the horse and instead looking for his meal. He pulled his club up off the ground and looked at the end of it, then at the spot in the ground like maybe his meal was in the hole. But when he didn't come up with anything he let out a loud cry.

" Shit! We gotta go." He said as Marius stopped by his side and with Lucias help he pulled himself quickly up onto his back. " Quickly before he starts chasing the horses again."

Who knew what the troll would do when its first meal in who knows how long escaped him, but Trevor didn't want to be here when it happened.

The edge of the field was coming up fast, but the steps of the troll were constant and covered a lot of ground. Every step it took made Marius stumble a bit, and there in the tree line Trevor could see the rest of the group also stumbling from the sheer force the troll put out. But Marius crossed into the trees and the troll roared because it knew that in the forest it would be impossible to find its food.

" Home clear at last." Trevor groaned, sagging in relief and rested his face in Lucias shoulder to just bask in the fact they had all made it out alive.
 
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‘Thank god that worked.’ Lucia shared the thought as she saw Trevor use the light of his sword to save himself, before she helped to pull him on the horse. “I was thinking we could just trot back,” she replied sarcastically to his demand to move quickly. As if that wasn’t her entire intention. If it weren’t life or death, she might have had Marius try trotting – but it was life or death, so she spurred him back into a gallop.

While it was wrong to have favorites…Lucia definitely had a favorite. Marius was. The aggressive horse had little fear, and just as much stubborn determination as needed – and he trusted her. If she wanted him to leap a cliff, he would leap the cliff.

Right then, he would gallop the path he was given, and slow right down to a trot when they reached the cover of the trees, but she wasn’t stopping him. Sypha had mentioned the energy was getting weaker, which meant there wasn’t much time. So she wasn’t going to waste it standing there to chat.

Especially not when the troll might decide to start knocking over trees. It hadn’t decided that yet, but…not worth the risk.

“Not quite yet,” Lucia murmured before she felt the pressure on her shoulder. She stiffened, before forcing herself to relax as she glanced to see the hunter so relaxed. “Hm.” Well then, she was making strides in proving herself, wasn’t she? She settled her gaze ahead once more, but didn’t ask Trevor to get off the horse.

It wasn’t…bad. Besides the fact Trevor was ridiculously warm and therefore comfy, it was simply nice to know that trust was there. It would likely evaporate soon, or be pushed back down, but…it was building. She hadn’t expected it to feel quite that nice, either – she hadn’t been so pleased when Johann started to show signs of trusting her.

The others kept walking along, to get further from the tree line, and eventually the frustrated roars of the troll faded away, “It should be—ah!” Sypha sprinted ahead, finding the arch in the midst of several old trees, that looked rather like the grove they had been in before. She stared up in awe at it for a moment, and Alucard could not help but step closer and tilt his head up to try and see it all.

“We have to learn more about these forests when we get back!” Sypha sounded far too excited, “There are not enough stories about these! Oh – I’ll have to share about the one near Gresit!”

Alucard gave an agreeing nod, Johann still kept at his side, “But we should get across before it closes. I believe it would close by day, at least,” he glanced back, briefly, as if trying to get confirmation from another, “When the witching hour has ended, so it should still be night.”

“I don’t suppose we can step through, and step right back, can we?” Johann asked.

Alucard shook his head. He knew that was not how this was going to work. This was a one-way passage. “Let’s go.” He was the first to go this time, Johann along with him.

He was prepared to flinch at sunlight.

Thankfully, it wasn’t sun he encountered, but moonlight. And, indeed, a glance up showed some progress of the moon, but not a terrible amount. Perhaps an hour. He took in a deep breath, “Garlic,” he sighed in relief, realizing they were, finally, back where they’d paused. He would likely never like the scent so much again.

Sypha was the next through, and she looked around, trying to commit to memory any details about this location so she might be able to find it again, to examine things at her leisure in the enchanted forest. She was certain if she wanted to go back, she could talk Alucard into it, too!

There was just so much there to pick up and research!

The others started to come through it, too, Danica breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the moon and the night. “Now we just have to find our carriage!”

“I think I can find our way back,” though as he said it, Johann shrugged himself off, and stepped back to where Aveline would be after she moved through the portal. He gave Johann a confused look.

“I can’t keep up with you through this…and I don’t want to be potatoes again.” So the short person would help.

When Alucard’s expression fell, Danica burst into a fit of giggles, which naturally confused the late arrival – Lucia – who hesitated too long in deciding if the risk was worth it.
 
Stepping through the archway Aveline couldn't say she'd really miss the bewitched forest that much, and considering her love of forests that was pretty shocking. But getting attacked by giant snakes tended to do that to a person.

" Nice to be home." Aveline hummed as she took a deep breath, yup she could faintly smell garlic even if she didn't have a vampires sense of smell. She stretched slightly, but winced slightly as she felt her left shoulder protest.

" Once we find the carriage hopefully we'll be able to treat everyones wounds better than we did." Sypha frowned and looked at the various bloody bandages on everyone.

" Then lets get back as quickly as possible, the hoard could pass by camp again on their way back from what ever city they attacked any time." Aveline said, then noticed Johann waiting near her and a coy expression crossed her face.

" Have you really come back to little old me?"

" Emphasis on the little." Trevor snickered as he found his baring. He took a chance to look around for any signs that they were anywhere other than the world they should be, but things looked about right.

Johann groaned a bit and wondered, after seeing that coy expression, if he could just walk on his own. But he knew that wouldn't end well.

" Just kidding Johann. You are fun to tease though." Aveline laughed then offered her side to him again.

" Nice to be back where we belong though." Trevor said, still seated on Marius with Lucia. He would of offered to go through the portal first but maybe leave a hand behind for a moment so he could tell her if everything was OK, but he hadn't gotten down when she went through.

In fact he wasn't totally sure why he hadn't gotten down yet, he was sure he could just tell Lucia he wanted off and she'd let him. But it wasn't every day he got to ride with a beautiful woman on a horse, and despite how close they were he didn't feel worried that she'd try to kill him. Though after everything they had been through it felt like he had been traveling with the group of weeks instead of just one very long day.

And with that chapter of their adventure closed the group traveled back to their camp sight, Alucard leading them back through the garlic field and from there all of them were able to remember the path they had used to get there. The hill was a bit of a pain for them to get up, but with his whip Trevor was able to make it easier for the people in their party that weren't vampires or riding on a nightmare to get up above.

And they arrived back at camp, which was at least still there. Though it had seen better days, and compared to how it had looked an few hours ago it was a bit disheartening. The carriage was on its side, the pots they had around the fire were scattered off somewhere, and the fire was out.

" At least we didn't catch the forest on fire with an untended or magicl fire." Trevor signed as he slid off of Marius.
 
The campsite was a wreck. Lucia expected the carriage to still be on its side, but she was not happy to see that it also looked ransacked. One of the luggage cases had clearly been tossed out, a long hole in it from where a claw must have dug in, scattering clothing. Food and jars had broken – there was enough evidence to that in the flung open doors at the back of the carriage.

“Oh no…,” Sypha couldn’t help the slight whine as she was certain she saw those delicious fruit preserves among the supplies lost.

“Alucard, help me get the carriage up,” Lucia sighed, slipping off Marius as well to let the horse return to munching on one of the dead bodies.

“Right,” Alucard walked with her, and the pair of them were able to push the carriage back onto its wheels, “The carriage itself seems in good condition,” he noted, and Lucia gave an agreeing nod, though still walked the entire way around it, while Danica came over to begin tidying things up, and sort out what was worth taking with them, and what should be abandoned. “I’ll help find some of the bandages, we should get another fire going.”

“On it!” Sypha said, noticing that much of the wood gathered had only been scattered, so she regathered it and brought it to where their fire had been, getting it started once more. “We’ll need more water, and I’m sure there were some healing salves in there, somewhere.”

“These?” Johann asked, holding up a metal tin curiously. He may have wanted to sleep, but Lucia was clearly busy making sure the carriage was safe.

At least, that’s what he presumed, until she slipped out of it, a scrap of red fabric wrapped around an arm. “I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going now?” Danica demanded.

“I’m exhausted and your kind of healing isn’t going to work. I’m sure there are still some animals left alive.” Maybe.

Danica huffed, exasperated. Lucia shouldn’t go out on her own, but telling her that was just as foolish. No one in the camp could help her with healing. Before she could even suggest she take a horse, she caught sight of that same strip of red. ‘Oh. Oh no….’ Lucia was probably only using hunting as an excuse. Danica moved to the carriage and hopped up in it, taking note that the benches had definitely seen better days. Most of the luggage was untouched, but anything that had been out – the book Lucia had been reading earlier, for instance – were in tatters.

No other evidence remained of the cloak, either.

She shifted out of the carriage once again, as Johann brought the tin to Sypha and she seemed quite happy that it was the salve, still well preserved in the tin. “Okay! Aveline, come here, please! And you too, Alucard – we’ll get everyone patched up a bit better now!”

“I’ll be back!” It couldn’t be far, right? Lucia might be unwilling to admit it was important, but Danica had patched that thing up enough times to know better. Sure, she’d abandon it for the mission…but she shouldn’t need to.

“Danica, you need it, too.”

“I know, and I’ll be back, I promise – we need more water, right?” She grabbed a bucket. An excuse.
 
" I think we should look at the bright side." Aveline said as she gathered the scattered pots and pans from around their camp site.

Looking at everything things could definitely be worse, and yes some cases were thrown open but not everything was that way. They would still be able to travel just fine with the carriage up and going, this was just more a hit at their morale than anything, which she hoped to combat.

" Please don't say things could be worse." Trevor groaned, having slipped off Marius the moment he realized just what the nightmare had in mind for its supper. But remembering that Lucia had taken him hunting earlier he couldn't help but think that the horses would get fat at this rate.

" no saying that brings back luck, and i'm all about good luck." She said, and truer words had never been said. Being part Haltija had to come with some type of bright side, and even if it was small fortune shining on her more often than not was something she wasn't going to pass up.

" We can still use the pots and pans."

" the inside of the carriage is shredded, those seats will be worse than rocks." Trevor rebutted.

" Most of our luggage wasn't torn into."

" Shit is still everywhere." Trevor motioned to the scattered clothes, bolts of fabric, and other supplies here and there.

" The salves and healing supplies look great too!"

" But the preserves!" Sypha cut in, clearly she was devastated.

" Sypha we'll get some more. I'll keep my eye open for fresh fruits, maybe we can make preserves ourselves sometime." Aveline patted the speakers slumped shoulders, and after a moment Sypha nodded.

" Just get over here and let me rewrap your wounds." Sypha still looked a bit down and out, but having a task to busy herself with was good for her.

Aveline joined Alucard sitting on a log that wasn't too bad off, waiting her turn as Sypha prepared the salve and bandages. " fancy meeting you here. Wanna take bets on whether or not the salve will sting?"

Trevor worked vaguely in the back of the hustle and bustle of everyone trying to get their business done. He was picking up anything on the ground that looked like it could be saved, and ended up following a trail of cloth back to the carriage. He took another glance inside and frowned at the shredded book on the bench, no doubt it was as old as the latin it had been written in, then remembered where the red cloak had been. Lucia had been very careful with it, she clearly cared for it. He was sure it hadn't survived the attack well.

He looked off into the direction Lucia and Danica had gone off into and frowned. Maybe he should say something to Lucia if he got her alone, but at the same time he didn't want to overstep. Just because they were getting along better didn't mean that suddenly he had a right to all her thoughts and concerns.

Shaking his head he promised to not force the topic, but he would say something if she looked upset by the time she returned.
 
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Johann did take another glance into the carriage and winced at the thought. “Danica can fix it,” he did say, but he didn’t know if she’d get to it that night. Likely not until the next, if they had enough bolts for her to do something with it. He’d probably still want cushions.

Still, his work was done. He’d found the salve, and while he didn’t go into the carriage, he did go to lay down near it. He didn’t need the salve. His head hadn’t cracked open. He just needed to sleep.

Alucard did need the salve, and he adjusted his coat and shirt again so that Sypha would be able to undo what she’d done and add salve and new bandages. Clean bandages. He started to pick off the old ones himself. “I think it is a safe bet the salve will sting.”

“No!” Sypha protested, “This is a cooling salve, it’ll help against the heat and soreness of some wounds. If anything it might feel…tingly.” She suggested. “Not stinging. Though it still cleans! Otherwise it’d be no use.”

“Uh huh. Tingly sounds like a code word for stinging.”

“Then you can be treated first.” Sypha stated, seeing as he’d also, already, removed his wrappings. Alucard sighed, but consented, and felt the cold salve slathered onto his wound. He winced, but in truth, it wasn’t from any stinging. It was the cold of it which was startling, and then that tingling that Sypha spoke of, which was actually pleasant. He relaxed.

“See?”

“It’s still cold.”


Danica eventually returned. She couldn’t delay too long in getting water, though it wasn’t hard to once she had a full bucket. Walking back was, necessarily, slower. Still, she hadn’t found any extra scraps of the cloak. ‘Lucia will have better luck.’ It was what she told herself as she set the water up near Sypha, in case she’d need it, before finding her place on the log to get her arms treated.

~***~

It couldn’t be found.

Lucia knew she had no direction or idea of the cloak, but even as she circled the campsite, no signs of the red came to her. No further shreds. No larger cloak. She couldn’t help the image that her only hope might be a stupid demon decided it would look great and decided to wear it. ‘Cliché.’ It dug in again, and Lucia glared down at the remaining red strip. ‘Don’t….’ The thought of throwing it off came, and she forced a breath.

No.

She might regret that. She wasn’t sure what she could do with just this, but it was…something. She’d figure it out later. ‘It’s not like anything of the old cloak really remains.’ Just the lie she told herself after so many repairs over so many years.

Still…it had originated there. ‘Hunt. Sleep.’ She moved further on from the camp, and further. It wasn’t like many animals decided to stick around when they could smell the death at the campsite. It put many but scavengers off, and Lucia wasn’t in the mood to deal with scavengers. They were usually good at escaping even her, the damned opportunists.

It took a while to so much as find a rabbit, and that was hardly sufficient, but at least Lucia knew she was finally getting to areas that the animals felt safe at. ‘There’s just going to be a trail of dead bunnies.’ There was something morbidly amusing about the thought. She hoped not.
 
" Oh, that is cold!" Aveline yelped slightly when her turn with the salve came. At least it didn't sting but it was so cold and the cooling sensation it brought after made a shiver go down her back. She should of known it would be really cold, if Alucard and his already low body temperature talked about the chill then it would probably be double that for her.

" It's like cold mountain air in a salve."

" All the more reason for you to avoid getting hurt in the future then." Sypha quipped as she wrapped up Avelines shoulder and stomach in new clean bandages.

" You make it sound like I chose to get hit with Trevors whip or that demons scythe." Aveline pouted slightly but stood up with a few good ideas about how to pass the time until they would have to pile into the carriage for the day.

" Don't try to put words in my mouth." Sypha waved a playful fist at her, Aveline scurried away with a chuckle and left Sypha to tend to Danica and her arms.

" Danica would you like some help with the carriage seats?" Aveline asked her as she finally looked inside the carriage and saw the long claw marks down them. With Danicas arms cut she didn't want to leave the big job all to her, even if Danica had insisted earlier that her arms weren't that bad. Bad or not sore arms would make long hours of sewing painful.

" I would appreciate the help." Danica confessed. Her mind was still on Lucia and she knew that she wouldn't give the carriage seats as much focus as they deserved, the help would be nice.

" Then i'll start looking for bolts of fabric to repair the seats, and any one with ripped clothes they'd like fixed should hand those over to me too. I plan on sewing that tear in my cloak, might as well fix up some other things while i'm at it."

Aveline dug through the back of the carriage and hummed happily when she found the case with thread and needle hadn't been touched by the hoard. In fact the amount of string in different colors was amazing.

" Alucard there's so black thread in here, I could mend that hole in your jacket if you'd like." She offered. " Oh and the hole in your shirt too."

It wouldn't be much but right now they didn't have time to sit down and sew new clothes from scratch and it was still too early to don the heavy winter clothes they had picked up in Gresit, though something told her Alucard had no plans to don cold weather appropriate clothing. She wasn't even sure how low the temperature had to be before he got cold or if he was ever at risk for getting sick from the weather.


" Damn demons, no sense of respect." Trevor mumbled to himself as the trail the demons left took him farther from the camp and down the main path. He had a pretty good idea that the next city they visited would be pretty bad off. If his memory served him correctly It would most likely be Vanator that they came upon next, but if there was anyone still alive in Vanator when they got there then he would be surprised. But then again the fact humans have survived this long with everything Dracula was throwing at them was also surprising.

Trevor stood up straight and stretched out his back a bit, being hunched over so long picking up this and that had caused the sore spot from landing on that rock to act up, when he noticed something above in the trees. Something was snagged on a tree branch and flapping slightly in the wind.

Under the light of the moon its color was just vibrant enough that even at this distance Trevor could or sworn the color was red.

Dropping the things he had gathered so far under the tree Trevor became to climb to tall tree, the dead branches of the tree groaning under him slightly and making him wonder just how safe this way.

But he tested his weight on each branch and only one branch had broken from under his feet and he had managed to catch himself in time so all things considered he was doing pretty good.

Finally reaching the higher branches of the tree Trevor was able to carefully grab the red fabric and sure enough it was a piece of Lucias cape, he could see the same careful snitches in it that had held well at keeping it together despite how it had been shredded. The strip wasn't large, but it was long at about the length and width of his arm. It wasn't much, but thinking back to how Lucia clearly cared for it he thought of his own cloak. If something happened to it he would appreciate any piece of it that was returned to him.

So he stuffed the piece of cloth in his shirt and began the descent down. Then he gathered all the supplies he had found up to this point, and started to make his way back to the camp.
 
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Danica was already preparing to stitch the seats back up, but she hadn’t considered the attire of the others beyond Lucia’s. For a moment she felt a pang of guilt for not thinking of them, as well – especially with Lucia off. Her cape would need repaired, somehow. If there was enough left…and her armor. Danica knew she could do the latter.

If there wasn’t enough left of the cape, she’d figure something out.

The carriage was mostly black within, so they were not in short supply of black thread, nor bolts – black was also good for absorbing heat, after all. They would want it up in the mountains. Danica made sure to relight the lantern within the carriage so that she could see what she was working on, while Aveline fetched materials.

Alucard heard Aveline, and spared a look for the coat that had been hit with the bolt. “I suppose I do rather like it,” and it’d be strange to wear it with the hole, though he was clearly determined to do so. He probably should have packed more clothing, “Very well,” he shrugged out of it, and then the shirt, as well.

He’d already been bare-chested before them, when they first met, so it didn’t seem strange to him until he heard Danica gasp and fumble. ‘Oh.’ Of course, she hadn’t seen, and he felt himself heat a bit under the realization that this was no longer quite the same situation as before, either. “Apologies for my immodesty, Danica.”

Danica shook her head, “I should have prepared better – I heard you agree.” She chuckled, dismissing it as Alucard walked ahead to pass up the clothing.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he inquired, glancing around at the mess which was fairly picked up by now. “I’m…not good with sewing, but there must be something.”

“Breakfast!” Sypha chimed, and Alucard canted his head, apparently not understanding. “Well, I’m hungry, after all that running and fighting. Would it be better to call it lunch? I'm not sure what we'd call a meal so late in the day...night."
 
Avelines brain came to a screeching halt when Alucard shed his jacket AND HIS SHIRT like it was nothing. Yes he had been shirtless when she first saw him, and it was a wonderful chest no scar could take away that, but it was a whole other situation for him to start stripping right here and now.

She blinked owlishly at him, but was happy to hear Danica having the same issue as her. She wished she was a cool and collected about it as Sypha was.

" Well at least we don't have to worry about you catching a cold like that." She chuckled as she took his shirt and jacket from him and really got to examine the holes. They weren't too bad, but since it had only been a bolt that caused them she hadn't expected them to be horrible or hard to fix.

Aveline sat the shirt and jacket on the bench at the front of the carriage to tend to in a moment, first she would help Danica stitch up the seats since those were most pressing. They had a time limit before the sun rose and if the seats weren't dealt with then travel tomorrow would be pretty horrible. But with the two of them it wouldn't take too long. Just from what she peaked in and already saw Danica doing she could see she was very skilled and used to sewing, they should knock this out pretty quickly.

" I don't think there's a name for a late night meal, oh but we could make one up! Like nott matr or Efri Gjor." She mused, the foreign words rolling off her tongue like water.

" Was that Nordic?" Sypha asked, her eyebrows scrunched up as she tried to figure out what language that could of been. It clearly had german or Slavic roots but it wasn't anything like she had heard.

" Yeah, It was raised with a very regional and old type of Nordic." Aveline said as she covered for herself, no need to get Sypha thinking too hard about things. But Sypha seemed content now that she knew how to place the slight accent Aveline had, just like it was clear Syphas first language wasn't Romanian the same could be said of Aveline.

" Well lets get these seats back in sitting order." Aveline, then joined Danica in the carriage. If Alucard was going to make them a nighttime snack then she wanted to feel like she earned it.


Trevor had tried to return to camp, but every time he started on his journey he would get distracted by cloth. He was keeping his eyes open for any fabric that might be part of Lucias cape so when ever he heard something flapping in the wind or saw something that reminded him of fabric he went to check it out, and sometimes it panned out. Sometimes he was able to find a small piece the size of his hand peeking out from under a bush or he pulled some of the cape out of a small animals burrow, but other times he climbed trees and found out that what he thought was a piece of the cape was actually just moss blowing in the wind or fabric from something else.

But at some point he finally made it back to camp with an armful of things they could still use and his shirt full of the scraps of cloth, he hadn't even put them in his pants pockets because he didn't want to risk them falling out, but when he tucked them into his shirt and under the leather band he kept his throwing knifes in he knew they wouldn't be going anywhere.

Back at camp he dropped off the things he had gathered without much to say, his mind was on something else, but his eyes didn't see who he was looking for.

" Lucia isn't back yet?" He called out, hoping someone had seen her and that she had just disappeared for a moment.

" No she isn't, but after everything that happened tonight I imagine she really needs to hunt." Sypha said, but she wrung her hands together a bit worried for their vampire friend.

Trevor hummed but frowned, then moved to the carriage where he could hear Danica and Aveline talking idly as they fixed the seats,

He rapted his knuckle against the door slightly to catch Danicas attention, then motioned her to follow him. " Could I have a word?" He asked, then headed to the back of the carriage for a moment of privacy.

" I um- this isn't a big deal or anything but while I was out looking for supplies I found these-" and from his shirt Trevor pulled out a bunch of shredded red fabric. " but I had a feeling I knew exactly what these were from, and that Lucia would like as much of it back as possible."

he handed the scraps over to Danica who looked over the bundle with wide eyes, she hadn't expected this much of the fabric to have survived especially not after seeing how little had been left for Lucia to find.

" You and Lucia are clearly close, I thought you'd be the best person to give these to and the best person to give them to Lucia. After that crack I made about her cape being cliché I doubt she even wants to think about me touching any part of it." He rubbed sheepishly at his neck, feeling too emotionally vulnerable and open right now.

" Anyway that was all, sorry to take you from your work. I'll be over there bothering Alucard if you need me." And he quickly left Danica to try and calm his racing heart. He didn't know why but the look Danica gave him made him nervous. It was like she could read him and his feelings better than he could understand them himself, and given that even he wasn't sure why doing something nice for Lucia made him react this way he didn't want Danica getting any ideas.

To push all these thoughts out of his head instead he decided to hound on Alucard a bit.

" You're cooking? Do you even know how to cook?" He snorted as he stepped over to see what Alucard was working on. " I imagine the son of the king of vampires wouldn't be allowed to sully his hands with kitchen work."
 
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“I like nott matr,” Danica answered, and though her own accent was off, it was not atrocious. Her use of other languages made it easier to pick it up. “The real question is what kinds of foods one eats for nott matr!”

“I suppose you’ll soon know,” once Alucard himself figured it out from the supplies they had, and his own tastes right then, while the women were working to get the carriage back in order. He peered through the supplies, keeping note that Aveline was a vegetarian. He knew a bit about cooking, though admittedly he hadn’t done much on his own.

His mother had shown him a few things, but he didn’t have the kitchen she did, nor the spices, or supplies. He had…a limited supply of things. As his eyes fell upon the soda bread, though, the thought occurred to him of how tasty that could be dipped in a broth. He took note then of the beans they had, and how there were plenty of vegetables still, and some sausage. He could make two separate sorts of bean stew.

It would probably have to suffice as a sort of lunch and dinner hybrid, he doubted they would eat again before the sun came up.

So, he went about preparing it, getting water on the fire to boil it to cook the beans and then trying to figure out what he could use to spice the one without meat – the meat tended to spice things well enough on its own.

Spice was a luxury they hadn’t seemed to indulge in. ‘Onions are something of a natural spice….’ He’d just have to add in some onions to the water and hoped it would help with the flavor of the beans. He only heard Trevor as he was starting to add the onions he’d cut up, and he gave him a bored look. “The King of Vampires didn’t exactly have kitchen staff for humans, Trevor. My mother made our food.” And so, occasionally, he learned while he was with her.

Not as much as he would have liked in that moment, “I’m sure it’ll be edible, at the least – though I must insist you not flavor it with ale.”


Lucia wasn’t long in returning after Trevor. Her journeys took her a bit aways from the camp, but eventually she had enough to feel that she would be able to heal her wounds without feeling terribly weak when she woke. The campsite seemed alive with activity – Alucard cooking, the others now working on clothing as the carriage seats had come together.

Danica had leaned over Johann then, and lightly shook him. “Hey, Johann…you can go into the carriage again. It’s better now.”

“Mm?” He pushed himself up a bit, and glanced towards the carriage. He didn’t even question it, just stood up, and all but crawled into it to splay out on one of the seats. Danica chuckled, before taking note of Lucia. Still with just that one strip wound around her arm.

“There you are – I need that strip, and your armor. I should have some time to make headway on repairs, and we still have plenty of leather to patch the armor.”

“You just sent Johann into the carriage, Danica. I’m not changing.” She had some semblance of modesty, though she noticed then that Alucard was shirtless. Apparently, repairs were going well. “You can fix it later.”

“At least give me the strip then – I can stop it fraying.” She wouldn’t yet mention that more had been found. She’d rather surprise her with it, when she could truly bring it together and see how much was there, and how much new fabric she might need to buy. Then she could tell her it was Trevor that found it.

Lucia hesitated, but unwound it from her wrist and let Danica take it.
 
The carriage seats were something Aveline was actually pretty proud of by the time she and Danica stepped back to look at them. Even with the limited time they had and the other sewing she had planned she had done her work neatly but in a way that was still very her. Every sewer had their favorite stitch and she had enjoyed using the cross stick to really keep the fabric together but give it texture, just something small so that when your hands brushed over the seams you could feel the difference. And as she looked over Alucards jacket and Shirt she was already thinking of the stitches she could use for those as well.

" Even if I had ale I wouldn't waste it by putting it in what ever you're making." Trevor said as he sniffed at the wisps of steam coming from the pots. Even though he was giving Alucard a hard time what ever he was making didn't look all that bad, especially not after all that running around they did.

" What ever you're making smells great, alucard." Aveline said as she settled down around the campfire with everything she needed to get some sewing done.

She worked on Alucards jacket first, humming gently under her breath as she did her best to hide the stitches this time around since everyone would see them, and this was very clearly a nice jacket. Being the son of the king of vampires certainly had it perks. But when she got to his shirt she used a kind of lazy daisy stitch instead, it brought all the fabric together well and worked wonderfully with the hole the bolt had left behind.

" Oh doing this makes me want to do some needle work." She chuckled, holding up Alucards shirt to see the very faint flower she had stitched into the left shoulder. Maybe if after everything was squared away and she didn't think it was a horrible waste of fabric, thread, and time she'd settle down and do some embroidery. It was always nice to have something to do with her hands, and if the vine and flowers she had embroidered on her tabard herself ever anything to do by she was decent. In the least she didn't want to get rusty.

" Here you go Alucard, you can put your shirt back on." She said, folding his shirt and sitting it neatly on top of his coat off to her side.

" Something tells me that won't be the last time one of us says that to you." Trevor said with a scoff. " We've known you for maybe 24 hours and you've been shirtless twice already."

Some movement off to the side and familiar voices drew Trevors attention over to where Danica and Lucia were. He wasn't sure what they were talking about, but he felt better knowing Lucia was back. Now the whole group was back together and it felt like a weight was off his shoulders, because like this he could protect. The people he had thrown his lot in with and had started to actually like were all within arms reach.

Johann was sleeping but safe, Aveline and Alucard were here in front of him where he could tease and banter with them, Sypha cleaning plates for their meal, and both Danica and Lucia were near by. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when they were all apart.

" You look more relaxed, Trevor." Aveline noted as she worked on her cloak with a fond look in her eyes, she must of been remembering something nice while sewing.

" We're out of that damned forest and safe, how could I not be relaxed?"

" No I mean, even after we got back to camp you didn't look relaxed. You went off on your own and came back, but you still had this look on your face like something was wrong. But it's gone now."

" Must be sitting by the fire." He tried to brush off, but again he cast a glance over at Lucia quickly before turning back to the flames.

" Must be." Aveline hummed, and for a moment she looked wiser than her young years would let on, but Trevor tried to ignore the hidden meaning in her words.
 
Alucard did observe, now and then, Aveline at her work while he made sure to cook the beans until they were a bit more tender. The onion did seem to be adding flavor, he just wished he had a hot pepper or something for a little more – though, Aveline might not like that. Right now, she wasn’t complaining, and this was no time for a gourmet meal.

He was pleased with the progress of the coat, though. He knew it would never be as pristine as before, but at least it would be fixed.

He could wear it again. He might even come to like that stitch, as some people came to like their scars. He spared a glance at Trevor with that thought, and his quite visible scar.

He doubted his own wound was going to heal any time soon. He’d always know his father lashed out at him…it was not a scar he would ever be happy to bear. But this stitch in his coat? Even if it came from an ally, he would remember it as a testament to the party formed, and the group that set out to stop Dracula, together.

Although when his shirt was handed to him, he knew it would be that mark he noticed more often, seeing the daisy even in the firelight, “Really, Aveline?” He arched a single brow at the design, before his attention shifted to Trevor and his lips curved in a smirk, “Jealous, Belmont?” Though he didn’t remain shirtless, pulling it back over his head, although he did not put the coat back on just then.

He wasn’t that cold, and there was something to annoying Trevor that brought him delight.

Plates started to be stacked near, the clean ones. Alucard tuned out the conversation as it shifted between Aveline and Trevor, and he went to chop up more vegetables to add into both of the stews, and also moved to start cooking the sausages apart from the beans, just to make sure they got cooked through before he cut them up, as well, and added them to one side.

“That does smell good,” he looked up as he saw Danica had returned to them, sitting down with Lucia nearer to the fire. “Will it be ready soon?”

“I think so,” Alucard answered. He spared a glance to Lucia’s arm, and took some heart to notice it was looking better. The wounds seemed to have at least closed. Sleep would certainly do the rest, but he wouldn’t question why she wasn’t – night was the only time she got to be out. She might prefer to stay awake until day, when she couldn’t do much of anything.

“Good! I think I’m going to try and catch a quick nap after to let Johann sleep a bit more. I can handle the horses in the morning.”

Lucia tossed a glance towards Marius, “If they aren’t too fat to pull the carriage.” At least Sulla was sleeping. She was pretty certain Marius wouldn’t over-eat, but she didn’t exactly know at what point you stopped a supernatural creature from eating demon flesh.
 
" Artists have to sign their work, Alucard." Aveline replied with a mischievous grin. He was lucky she hadn't put the daisy stitch on his coat, she had put it on his shirt where only the two of them would know it was. It was silly but they were becoming friends, and she was the type to mess with her friends if she was given the chance.

"Jealous?" Trevor scoffed at the thought. " You haven't gotten anything to be jealous of. Your lean like a board, if you didn't have vampire strength I could push you around like nothing. Where as under this cloak and many layers is my finely tuned hunters body. Belmont blood doesn't guarantee a good body, gotta work for it."

Trevor motioned to his body, which underneath all his clothes was actually very toned and fit. He certainly wouldn't look like the pale, lanky, and some what hairless Alucard if he took his shirt off, but it was cold and he wasn't going to do that.

" Wow now boys, settle down before this gets heated." Sypha said, really not wanting the boys to get into some type of dick measuring contest here. " Lets just eat the wonderful food Alucard made."

" We don't know if it's wonderful yet, you're taking his side." Trevor said with a small glare at Sypha, who threw her hands up in the air with a sign.

" You're like children!"

Aveline laughed at the exasperated look Syphas face, then patted the empty spot on the log next to her to sit.

" Loosen up Sypha and enjoy the energy and excitement while you can because I don't know about you but when the sun comes up and we get into the carriage i'm going to sleep like i'm in a coma."

" Oh sleeping sounds great." Trevor agreed, they had done a lot today and if the carriage seats were as comfortable as they looked then tomorrow he imagined that he, Sypha, and Aveline would all be passed out on them.

" Food first, then sleep." Danica said as she stepped over to see what Alucard was making and how it was coming along. When it everything looked good enough though she started to plate and hand it out to everyone.

" Johann is missing a lot of good food." Aveline said, but then hummed when she tasted the vegetarian stew Alucard had made her. " This is great Alucard. Thanks for going out of your way for me." He could of just done something ease and roasted some vegetables for her or something, but instead he made a second stew just for her.
 
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